2021 Montalto Vineyards Pinot Noir Pennon Hill

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 91 points

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  1/26/2024 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Ahoy there Captain Schtiffie! Pinot Noir on the horizon.
  
  Barely have these words passed my lips than my my Stortebeker self leaps into action. This is a Pinot for a pirate. I could easily walk the length of 11 men after being beheaded, such is the inspiring character of this fine Oz Pinot. The headsman would not trip me.
  
  In a more contemplative moment, I refer to my last note on this wine and ponder the matter of Pinot, be it Burgundy or Newt World. Lots of questions. Is the stature of Pinot largely derived from its ability to ripen in a cooler epoch and to be less objectionable than many of its fellows? I do wonder. Is the reputation of Pinot as a Noble Variety merited today? I find both Sangiovese and Nebbiolo more complex as grapes and capable of giving as much to my mind and my emotions. Pinot tends to need oak to add things that these two Italian varieties do without help.
  
  Yet I love Pinot. The sour aspects, the roasted beetroot notes all draw me in. I really like the lightness of being combined with depth that comes from Pinot in a good site. Sometimes I do think that everything I like about Pinot I get from Barolo, at half the price and with so much more complexity and reliability. But then I have a fine Pinot and I am reminded that all that is true, but Neb is not Pinot and I do love both. It reminds me of the argument over whether Townes van Zandt or Guy Clarke was the greater song writer. Lots of points in common between the two (especially their muse, Susanna) yet also no question the two were very different. I can't imagine drinking one and not the other and I can't imagine listening to one and not the other. Right now I am feeling 'A Song For' but tomorrow I know it will be 'Dublin Blues'. Stortebeker me is just loving this rampant Pinot and who cares about tomorrow?

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  8/29/2023 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Yes, I admit it, I love Pinot Noir. This is akin to shouting out 'I love Fidel Castro and his beard!' as Bob Dylan's character did in rural somewhere USA in 'Motorpsycho Nightmare'. I don't love Pinot like I love Cabernet by almost anyone, or Riesling by the Teutonic hordes, or Tuscan reds or the dainty Neb (who will quibble about a little tannin?), but I do have a deep and abiding affection for it and sometimes it is just what I want.
  
  This is a fine luncheon red if you like Pinot. Don't over think it. You get suggestions of a serious wine without the structure that a serious wine of this age (or lack thereof) would have and which would potentially make it rather bracing drinking.
  
  You also get decent intensity and length of Pinot fruit - some raspberry and beetroot, a slight overlay of green leaf and some fresh acidity. No botty stuff here, but you can't always get everything. This is not super complex, but it is also not a simple fruit bomb.
  
  It is better on day 2 but I can't see the point cellaring. Just plan your guzzling and open ahead of time. It is also enjoyable enough pop and pour.

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